On The Outside, Looking In
by tromana
Summary: -companion fic to On the Inside, Looking Out- A SCU case goes sour and Bosco can only watch the fall out. Jane/Lisbon. For boutondor.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **So this fic is for boutondor, who asked for a Jane/Lisbon fic from somebody else's perspective. Of course, that means I choose to write both perspectives, because I'm a slave to the plot bunnies like that.

It _shouldn't_ be necessary to read both perspectives, but hopefully it'll be fun and they'll make quite interesting contrasts from one another. Inside should focus more on the case, whereas Outside will focus more on Bosco's opinion on Jane and Lisbon and the way they work together.

Anyway, enjoy. I think.

x tromana

* * *

**Title:** On the Outside, Looking In  
**Author:** tromana  
**Rating:** T  
**Characters:** Jane/Lisbon, Bosco  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine.  
**Summary:** -companion fic to On the Inside, Looking Out- A SCU case goes sour and Bosco can only watch the fall out.  
**Spoilers: **Up to 2x07 Red Bulls  
**Notes:** written for boutondor. I'm a slave to the plot bunnies. Beta'd by twin, my partner in crime, the second head of the two-headed angst monster. She's more commonly known as Divinia Serit. Thank ya m'dear.

**On the Outside, Looking In**

**Part One**

Mandy never deserved this kind of treatment, goodness knows she didn't. Not only did she have to share her husband with his job, but she also had to accept his affections for a certain little spitfire. And she did so with practiced ease, never once complaining or starting an argument when she would have been more than justified if she'd done so. It was like she'd long since accepted that she would never be as important a figure in her husband's life as she should be. Most other women would never stand for it and would long since have left him, but not Mandy. Maybe she _should_ have left have, but Sam Bosco was grateful that she hadn't and that she had continued to provide one solid constant in his life. There weren't many women in the world like Amanda Bosco and he reckoned that he was one of the lucky ones.

"Sam, you're stressed. You need to calm down."

"How can I calm down? She's throwing her life away for that bastard and she's too blind to see it."

"Teresa's her own woman, Sam," Mandy replied patiently, relieved that she had finally managed to persuade her husband to sit down. "A very stubborn one too. You know that."

Eventually, he allowed himself to relax into her touch as her nimble fingers worked at the tensed muscles in his shoulders. If it wasn't for Mandy, Bosco knew that he would probably have driven himself off the edge of a cliff literally by now. It was a problem of his, he always allowed himself to get so wound up all too easily. But the knowledge that their two beautiful kids were upstairs, busy completing their homework and the enticing aroma of a roast beef joint in the oven had finally taken its toll and allowed him to relax. He knew exactly what the problem was. Patrick Jane had really rattled him.

But then again, Jane always seemed to be doing that. The man was a charlatan, who seemed to have the ability to wrap everyone - even Lisbon and Minelli - around his little finger. And Jane played on it, with his secretive ways, outlandish stunts and desperate desire to play the showman. It was a miracle that he had managed to worm his way into the CBI, especially when it was so blatantly obvious that he wasn't all there. Then there was Red John. Jane was clearly obsessed and how the institutions could justify hiring somebody who was so open about their desire for revenge and murder was beyond Bosco. Heavens knew how poor Teresa coped with working with him day in, day out. She definitely deserved that old nickname of 'Saint Teresa' for she certainly seemed to have developed the patience of one. He would have told Minelli his complaints as he had no desire to undermine Teresa's career and his issues purely laid with Jane. But he had a feeling Minelli wouldn't see it like that and besides, he respected him to much to question the director's usually sound judgment.

Instead, Bosco took his complaints directly to the source and seethed at home, much to his wife's irritation.

His latest case had pretty much confirmed his beliefs and concerns though. Yes, they'd closed the damn thing, but not without typical Jane trickery. Typical Jane trickery that Lisbon had been more than willing to turn a blind eye to. And that was particularly worrisome. The Teresa Lisbon he'd known was a straight arrow, no nonsense, as good as they came. The one he saw on an almost day to day basis now was a caricature if the woman who had been destined to become a formidable agent. Bosco reckoned that the influence could entirely be put down to Jane. He knew that those two had a rather bemusing relationship. Hell, everyone in the employ of the CBI did. They appeared to flirt mercilessly, shared furtive gazes and secret smiles and displayed an obvious affection for one another. However, if looks could kill, Jane would be dead several times over and Teresa must have worn her voice hoarse with how often she found herself berating him. And equally, Jane was known to pick fights with the petite agent, especially when he was convinced he was right and she was wrong. Or, if Red John cropped up, even just in conversation, of course.

When his kids came charging downstairs, like the ravenous horde they were, Bosco let work slip from his mind for a while. Really, he needed to learn to stop taking so much of the emotional baggage home with him. He'd been in the business for long enough, but for some strange reason, he'd simply never learned how to, probably because Mandy was so accepting of it. But still, it wasn't fair on her or the kids. They deserved at least a couple of hours where the man of the house wasn't preoccupied by what might as well have been another life. He genuinely enjoyed hearing his children ramble away about their friends, school problems and the like. If nothing else, it was a blessed respite from worrying about death and disaster as well as problematic co-workers.

He tried desperately hard not to feel too guilty when his mind invariably slipped back to work and indeed, Teresa, later in bed. Mandy's arm was wrapped somewhat possessively around his waist, but his mind was caught up with thoughts of the most important woman in his life excluding his wife and daughter. Bosco had spent many hours trying to fathom the reasons why he transferred from SFPD to Sacramento. He now had a list of excuses, each one more feeble than the next. A change of lifestyle, more money, a bigger (or at least, more expensive) house, better schools for the kids, closer to his brother. While they were all perfectly valid on one level, he knew they weren't the real reason and he'd be lying if he ever claimed they were.

The real reason _was_ Teresa Lisbon and though he'd never force Mandy to endure the humiliation of divorce (and he didn't actually want to leave her anyway, so the point was moot), he'd be damned if he saw her waste her life on Patrick Jane.

The problem was that she was woefully blind when it came to her consultant.

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Right, I'm sorry for the slow update. It's for two reasons: one, I wanted to get Pretty Lies completed and now I have and two, I also want to update this and Inside at the same time - so that plot points and the like are revealed at the same (or at least, similar) times.

Anyway, thanks to: phoenixmagic1, yaba, boutondor, lisbon69, Sarcasm-the Lowest Form of Wit, Divinia Serit, Koezh, forthecoast, Ebony10, WildDaisies10 and Viktorija for reviewing part one and special thanks to Crackle for betaing. You're mad. *hugs*

Hopefully the next update will be up a little quicker, but best laid plans and all that...

x tromana

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**Part Two**

When Bosco finally awoke from his deep sleep, he was in a rather calm mood. He smiled slightly as he could feel the solid weight of his wife pressed against his back and the sound of his son's television was blaring far too loudly considering it was just past six a.m. As her warm breath tickled his neck, he buried his head back into the pillow, wishing that he could indulge in just five more minutes of this comfort. For the first time in a good month or so, he felt calm, contented, which was saying something considering just how annoyed he'd been the night before. Amanda mumbled something in her sleep and he sighed. He really wasn't in the mood for work, but he couldn't spend all day in bed with his wife. Besides, she had work to do as well. Briefly, he considered taking some leave. He still had plenty left to take and soon, Minelli would start applying the pressure for him to take it before the next financial year anyway.

He showered quickly and within an hour, he was saying goodbye to the kids and heading to work. Though he was in a good mood now, part of him had a feeling that it was likely to go horrendously wrong. But then again, when your career specialized in dealing with death, that was always a probable outcome. Either a bad case could crop up or Jane would come and start skulking around.

It didn't surprise him when, three hours later, he spotted Teresa Lisbon bickering with the blond thorn in her side. As usual, things were getting relatively heated between the pair and Jane was arguing vehemently about just how 'easy' their case appeared to be. When Lisbon acknowledged his presence, he grinned and nodded in response, uttering her name. As she smiled back, he couldn't help but feel that rush of warmth run through his veins. She was a fiery woman and women with that kind of attitude always had that affect on him. Mandy, when riled, was exactly the same, though generally she had been a more calming influence of late, but that was probably a good thing. Especially for his blood pressure when his doctor had been growing particularly concerned about.

Still, he didn't have the time to worry about Lisbon and her problems with Jane. He had his own team and own cases to worry about. Starting with that Grimshaw case. As he rounded the corner to his office, Bosco pulled a face. Really, it didn't need the CBI's involvement at all. Local officers were more than qualified to deal with petty squabbles such as this but because of politics, the case had landed on his desk three weeks ago and now he had to deal with the trivialities. And paperwork. If there was one thing Bosco disliked more than Patrick Jane, it was paperwork. But at the moment, especially according to the gospel of Minelli, both were necessary evils to get his job done.

"Boss, I bought donuts."

Bosco grinned as Hicks proffered the box - the younger man knew exactly how to please his boss, especially when it came to subverting Mandy's plans for dieting. And it was just going to be the pair of them for today, especially as this was the kind of thing that really didn't need all their attention. The rest of his team were in archives, checking yet again for any details they may have missed when it came to Red John. Bosco was slowly beginning to understand just how easy it was to become obsessed with the serial killer. Though he tried to remain objective, and thought he was doing a pretty good job at that, the number of killings meant that there was a surprisingly vast amount of information to absorb. Therefore, it wasn't uncommon for him to spend the night tossing and turning, trying desperately to work out the links that others before him had failed to see. Mandy worried too; the case was high profile, risky and she hated the thought of her husband being the lead agent on a case involving such a dangerous serial killer.

"Why would he attack the Burchams?" Hicks mused out loud, a crease appearing between his brow as he grabbed another chocolate glazed donut just before Bosco took it. "What's the link?"

"I think it's something to do with the kid, Troy."

"Only Daddy won't let us speak to him."

"He wants the case solved but won't give us access to everything we need," Bosco growled and he paused as his cell phone rang out. He held up an index finger to indicate that he needed a minute or so before pressing a button on the piece of technology. "Bosco."

Hicks cocked his head quizzically as he listened to half a conversation. Going by the soppy grin on his boss' face, he was speaking to one of three people: his wife, his daughter or Teresa Lisbon. He knew that Bosco had mentored Lisbon back at SFPD and because he had a respect for the woman, that meant Hicks automatically did too. It didn't take him long to work out it was the latter as Bosco gruffly asked him to make himself scarce in ten minutes time so that he could talk to the petite senior agent in private. From what he could gather, it seemed that their wires were going to be crossing with SCU again and Hicks couldn't be sure whether or not that was a good or bad thing. And he had to go and collate reports with Rebecca while Bosco made time for Lisbon. While their secretary was pleasant enough, there was still something about her that set him on edge.

It didn't surprise Bosco that Lisbon was as punctual as ever. He'd specifically dug out some case files to show her and couldn't help but smile as she frowned prettily while studying them. The woman really deserved somebody who would look after her, but her stubbornness had scared away pretty much any suitor. Apart from Jane, of course. Even if the blond _wasn't_ looking for another relationship, those two were dangerous together and if, when, something happened between them, Bosco wasn't sure whether he wanted to be around to aid Lisbon or just out of danger altogether. When he finished informing her about everything he already knew about Grimshaw, she seemed as appreciative as ever and stood to leave.

He couldn't help but ask about Jane. Bosco didn't mean to sound so abrasive when it came to the man but the words just kind of slipped out. The amiable expression on the woman's face immediately hardened and he barely got an answer before she stormed out of the room. Part of him didn't regret asking, he'd been generally curious. Everybody at the CBI knew that Jane had been passed from department to department like a hot potato before he had been placed in Teresa's team. He wanted, needed, to understand how and why she could tolerate him. The man was an egotistical jackass who cared little for his responsibilities and even less for everyone around him.

The rest of him, however, felt terribly guilty for lashing out at somebody who genuinely didn't deserve his anger. Somebody who he genuinely cared about and really, all he wanted to do was watch out for her as he had done in the past.

He'd had a shrinking feeling something was going to go wrong and suspected that it had just happened.

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Okay, short chapter. I'm sorry. I still think I prefer this perspective - I think Inside mainly makes sure I know what the team are up to with the case and fills in some gaps that there would otherwise be with this fic. Erm. It makes sense to me, honestly. Thanks to Twin once again for betaing. This one would be awful without your imput!

And thank you to: Koezh, boutondor, phoenixmagic1, lisbon69, Divinia Serit and Viktorija for reviewing part two.

x tromana

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**Part Three**

It was a rather lame excuse to go down to the supply closet.

He didn't really need a new marker pen, his was perfectly fine and even if he did, he would usually have sent Rebecca to go and pick it up. Nobody said anything, even though most people knew that it was just as excuse to catch up with Lisbon. Bosco had been surprised at just how quickly news traveled in the CBI and what had been a small disagreement between co-workers was almost being painted as a full-blown row. He ignored the glances and whispers from colleagues; as far as he was concerned they could continue gossiping all they liked. It kept them entertained and it didn't really hurt anybody.

What did matter was trying to talk to Lisbon again, trying to smooth down her ruffled feathers.

The brunette was in a jumpy mood when he finally caught up with her and he nearly received a black eye for his efforts. The glare she wore would have looked ridiculous on anybody but her and they both knew it. How such a small person managed to have so much attitude was entirely beyond him. Some would say that she was simply making up for her lack of height with personality, but Bosco believed it was more of a case of her defending herself against hurt. Going by the company she generally kept, it was unsurprising that she needed to be so defensive all the time.

Nor did her bluntness didn't surprise him much when it came to his rather pathetic attempts at an apology. Lisbon was never one to back down easily, a quality she shared with his dear Mandy and liked in both of them. With a sigh, he watched as she hurried away, back upstairs and straight back to her team. Back to Jane.

"Hey, Agent Bosco? I have the pen you ordered…"

"Never mind," he replied snappishly.

He'd try talking to her again tomorrow. Give her a little time to cool off and reassess the situation.

But one thing he couldn't deny was that she was absolutely right. He would never apologize for his active dislike of Patrick Jane, but he hated seeing her so angry and causing her problems. Especially when she had more than enough to deal with without having to worry about strife between the pair of them.

***

Bosco was staring at the Red John case once more, his eyes blurring over the details. He genuinely loved his job - especially figuring out problems and putting criminals where they deserved to be. And like every other agent who had ever touched the Red John case, he was particularly desperate to bring this bastard to justice. He'd killed so many innocent people and was still practically mocking them. It absolutely disgusted him that despite the fact he'd been working on the case for several months, he still hadn't really gotten any further with it.

He tried engaging Hicks in a discussion, but his second in command seemed distracted, not able to focus. It was then that he remembered that the man wasn't as blessed when it came to his marriage as Bosco was. Briefly, he'd mentioned that his wife had been talking about separation and going by his attitude, Bosco reckoned that it had moved from possibility to probability. Hicks was a good agent though and just because he was having marital problems, it didn't mean that he was going to take it out on him. Instead, he suggested that the other man left for a while, took five minutes, bought himself a coffee and a muffin and then returned to do some work. A bit of fresh air would do his concentration a world of good.

After he nodded his gratitude, Bosco pulled the file forward. All the latest Red John cases, the ones since Jane had joined the CBI had stopped following the original pattern. He stared at that, trying to work it out. Maybe they had a pattern of their own? Maybe they linked to Patrick Jane himself? Was the serial killer getting bored or just playing with the CBI's consultant? Or was he just going mad and trying to make connections where there really weren't any?

He shoved the manila file away and allowed his face to rest in his hands for a brief while. He was beginning to understand just how easy it was to allow this specific case to eat away at your entire life.

***

It was at times like this he became particularly grateful for the CBI's highly active rumor mill.

As he headed towards the kitchenette on the third floor for a much-needed refill of coffee and a break from staring at the same files time and time again, he passed Cho and Rigsby. Neither of them had the time to acknowledge his presence and both had harried expressions on their faces. All he needed to hear was a snippet of a phrase, spoken slightly louder than anticipated by Rigsby. The words 'Lisbon's been shot' caused the blood to drain from his face and for him to complete forget what he had been planning to do in the first place.

Dropping the coffee mug, he didn't even hear it smash on the edge of the sink as he rushed back to his office to pick up his car keys. When Hicks tried to stop him to ask him where he was actually going, Bosco managed some garbled excuse about a family friend and hospital. It wasn't too far away from the truth. Lisbon was a friend of his and therefore, of the family. Well, he hoped she still was. Considering her reactions earlier in the day, he could be forgiven for thinking otherwise, but she wouldn't be Lisbon without her fiery personality.

He reached the hospital in record time, to see a visibly shaking Van Pelt and Jane pacing around the small waiting room. Both looked a little surprised to see his presence, but neither bothered speaking to him as they were both too wrapped up in blaming themselves for the accident. Especially Van Pelt, who swore she should have seen the shooter before she did so that she could have caught him before he even had time to fire the gun.

The atmosphere was unsurprisingly stifling.

"Do you have any idea how she is?" Bosco eventually dared to ask.

Neither of them dared respond.

**TBC…**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Again, final chapter, and again, I think I prefer this POV to the other. It was fun trying to explore a case from Bosco's viewpoint, though I think I opened a kettle of worms I'm tempted to explore at a later date with Mandy... oops.

Thank you to: boutondor, lisbon69, Koezh, Divinia Serit, Dogeatdog, Viktorija and WildDaisies10 for reviewing. Esp. to Dogeatdog who signed in anonymously, Div for checking it over and Cat for the idea in the first place.

x tromana

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**Part Four**

It was a blessed relief to see Lisbon's eyes slowly flutter open, even if her expression was a mixture of sheer confusion and pain.

Bosco had always hated seeing her hurt. It reminded him of the first time she'd injured herself in his presence, her shoulder to be precise, when flooring a suspect twice her size as a rookie. Despite the fact he'd tried desperately to persuade her to take at least a couple of days leave, Lisbon, already as stubborn as a mule, had walked into work the next day and he had watched as she winced desperately at her every move. Bosco had a feeling that this would be a relatively similar situation, though at least the fact she'd been hospitalized would mean she would be forbidden from working, at least for a while.

Van Pelt had already disappeared, soon after the doctor had told them that Lisbon should be recovering consciousness soon. Poor woman looked a little shaken up, probably having memories of the recent incident she had been involved in. It probably didn't help that he and Jane had spent the past couple of hours glaring at each other, blaming each other for Lisbon's injury. Realistically, they could have either blamed both of them, for leaving the brunette agent so frazzled, or nothing at all and explained it away as being a hazard of the job. Naturally, neither of them saw it that way though.

He couldn't help but reach out and touch her hand. Usually, she would flinch as he did so, feeling that any physical contact between the pair of them was wrong, but in her drowsy, drugged up state, she didn't really seem to mind. All things considering, it didn't really take Lisbon long to become coherent. And as expected, after a quick update on how the team was, she took control of the situation. Bosco didn't expect anything less of her, Lisbon had always prided herself in her ability to take control of a situation, however dire the consequences. It was just Patrick Jane who managed to undo all of her hard work and somehow managed to leave a competent agent looking like a young school girl who was completely at a loss as to how to do things.

"Does your wife know where you are?"

She was quiet and directly to the point. And absolutely right. In rushing to get to the hospital, he'd completely forgotten to update Mandy. She'd hopefully understand, or at least she probably would have if he'd just given her a quick telephone call. He took a deep intake of breath as Lisbon narrowed her eyes, observing him.

"Go home. Go see her."

With a sigh, he nodded, stood up and bid her a farewell. There was no point in trying to persuade her otherwise. He knew that she was on the road to recovery and arguing with Teresa Lisbon was entirely pointless in his opinion. Not that Patrick Jane appeared to agree with that sentiment, of course.

***

Mandy was furious when he walked though the front door five hours later than expected. The kids had already retired to their rooms, though whether or not they were sleeping would be another matter entirely. Carefully, he knelt down to scratch the cat underneath the chin, hoping to win the fickle creature over. Naturally, she turned tail and strolled off, probably to go yowling at the window at the male across the road. Traitorous beast. Though she could have said many things, Mandy, like the cat, just placed his dinner in front of him with a contemptuous gaze and strolled off coolly. He ate quickly, fearing that he would insult her even more by refusing to eat the meal she had kindly made him before even attempting to talk to her. Sam approached her tentatively, already regretting his actions earlier that day.

"Why the hell were you so late, Sam?" she hissed, prodding him gently in the chest. "Why didn't you call?"

"I was at the hospital."

Her gaze softened and instead of carrying on with her angry tirade, Mandy wrapped her arms around her husband's waist. She knew all the members of his team fairly well, if only by reputation rather than directly. And as he cared so deeply about them, that meant that, naturally, she did too. For a few seconds, she listened to his heartbeat, somewhat reassured that it wasn't him who had been injured. She wasn't quite sure what she would do without him. As far as Amanda Bosco was concerned, everything about her life was dictated by her husband and therefore, if he was gone, she would lose everything.

"Who was hurt? Are they going to be okay?"

He shook his head.

"Teresa. She should be fine."

"Oh," she murmured before taking a seat. "I'm always going to share you with her, aren't I?"

Just an hour later and they found themselves in bed. Neither of them had talked much, not since Mandy had announced that she pretty much saw Lisbon as a threat to her marriage and Bosco had refused to answer. Of course Lisbon was important to him and was going to remain so, but Mandy was even more so. Still, for some reason he couldn't bring himself to answer. Maybe he shouldn't have agreed to take on the Red John case. The kids may have been getting older and therefore he had more time for work, yes, but that didn't mean he should be sacrificing his relationship with his wife over work and work colleagues, however long he'd known them for.

***

"Oh stop it, Sam, I'm not an invalid."

Bosco took the crutches off of her and laid them carefully across the back seat. As far as he was concerned, she was heading back to work far too soon, but it was virtually impossible trying to tell somebody like Lisbon that. Her job was her life and he knew full well that she had been going insane at home. A couple of weeks of desk duty wouldn't be all that much better, but at least she would be doing something and would feel useful again.

"How's Mandy?"

"Fine."

"Sam…"

"She's unhappy."

"Don't neglect her. She's a good woman."

"I know."

"Good."

They spent the rest of the journey in silence, Lisbon reacting a little bit frostily, scared that she had effectively been accused of the friction that had been occurring between Bosco and his wife. Sam noted this and didn't force her to talk as that would mean she would just withdraw further away from him. She didn't deserve that, especially considering everything she and her team had been through lately. He did, however, beam at her when her face lit up at the sight of the CBI headquarters coming into view. Really, a woman shouldn't be so enthusiastic about being back at work. Lisbon, typically, refused all help as she slowly made her way to her office and Bosco made sure that he was only a couple of steps behind. After he placed her belongings on her desk, he turned to face her, wishing there was more he could do for her.

"He's going to be the death of you."

"I'll see you later, Sam."

Bosco nodded and quietly withdrew from the situation. The man he'd been talking about would be there to bother her soon and frankly, the less he saw of Jane, the better. After all, he couldn't be certain, but going by Jane's track record, he could land up being the death of him too.

end


End file.
